Bloglander

Did your week suck? Easy, now. Let Mark Ward swoon your work-a-day worries away. We've gushed about the local singer-songwriter in our pages for years now. Ward is undoubtedly one of the best acoustically minded musicians in town and will release his new album, Through the Dark, to the masses tonight at the Seaside (you know that's the Blvd, right?) at 7 pm. $7. All-ages.

James Pants is weird; Th' Mole wayyyyy out-weirds him. If you're at all a Pants fan, you'd probably like Th' Mole — one of seven alter-egos of California rhyme-kid Jonah Mociun. He throws fierce, dance-heavy hip-hop (not to mention buckets of confetti) at audiences worldwide. Th' Mole rocks the Sunset Junction tonight at 9 pm with Jaeda, Gun of the Sun, Stone Tobey and Fat Arm. $7. Gotta be 21 to ride Th' Mole train.

Get your hee-haw on to the music of Kasey Anderson (who you may have missed at his show back in February here) and Ellensburg's Star Anna — an Americana artist that Duff McKagan (the Guns n Roses guitarist who now pens a column for Seattle Weekly) said "will be a talent we can all say that we saw here when … Guaranteed." Catch them at Empyrean tonight. 7 pm. $7. All-ages.

A mishmash of faith, politics and frenzied punk, the Shondes bring their brand of messy, experimental indie rock to the Empyrean tomorrow (Saturday) night. The Awkward Years — who've been out of the limelight for a bit now — return to open, as does Space Opera 77. 7 pm. $5. All-ages.

It's a little dorm-room-noodley, a little Dave Matthews-y, but people sure do love Martin Sexton. Head to the Knit on Sunday night to see what people are making such a fuss about. 8 pm. All-ages. $20.